Hair Ribbons and Bow Ties
by Elphie of Heartshaven
Summary: Fun one shot with Eleven and Romana. This Time Lady is certainly not impressed with the Doctor's venacular, nor with his fashion sense. *might turn into one shot series*


**I was listening to the Zagreus for the god knows what time, and I just had this really funny thought of Romana's reaction to "a big ball of timey wimey stuff", rather than the conventional theory of the Web of Time and all that junk. (frankly, I'll take timey wimey. I don't get the crap with the Eye of Harmony and the Web of Time.)**

**This is set in between the end of series 6 and the Christmas special. kind of a whole other part of Eleven's life while Amy and Rory aren't around. I'm not taking my usual "the Doctor thinks Romana died in the war, but she didn't" approach, this is more towards the approach that the Doctor knows she's alive and well in E-Space, but he didn't actually expect to see her again, so this may be closer to what die hards would call 'canon' (show events only).**

**I thought I might turn this into a sort of an on going one shot series when new ideas come to me, or I just need to make something light when my I get writers block on my more intense stuff, so keep and eye out for more. (one shots are easier to finish than chapter stuff, so there won't be a delay when I get ideas like the others, I promise.)**

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><p>"A big ball of <em>what?<em>"

Romana was sure the Doctor was mad- well, madder than he had been since they parted in E-Space. He was rambling on with another of his ridiculous stories, this one in particular about loosing the TARDIS (not surprising in the least bit) in an encounter with stone creatures called the Weeping Angels, and ending up stranded in 1969 with the earth girl Martha. Romana had to interject when his tale reached the point at which he had made a tape for young woman named Sally Sparrow, from transcript she had written after seeing said video (he had obviously not refrained from his habit of meddling and making a mess of things), and how he had described the way he had explained the framework of time to this poor girl, in the most absurd vocabulary Romana had ever heard.

"Wibbly-Wobbly-" he began to explain again, bouncing on balls of his feet, shaking his screwdriver at her enthusiastically.

She yanked the clunky object from his hand, resisting the urge to whack him in the head with it. "-Timey-Wimey stuff. Yes, so you said." She sighed, "No wonder it took you two times to scrape through the Academy."

"Yeah, well, you trying to explain the Eye of Harmony and the Web of Time to a Human." He said in a snarky tone, trying to wriggle his way out of another trap she had caught him in. "Not to mention 'Timey-Wimey sounds a lot cooler! Besides, with Gallifrey gone, the whole 'Web of Time' thing seemed a bit," he paused, trying to find a word, "irrelevant."

"Only because you destroyed it!" she shouted at him, glaring at him coldly.

His face was crestfallen, he knew he had hit a sore spot in their conversation. The Doctor had come to terms with the destruction of Gallifrey, but never the less, he tried to avoid talking about it when he could, even before his reunion with Romana. But she was still trying to comprehend the idea that her home planet was gone, that she could never return to Gallifrey. She didn't speak to him for a week and half he had told her that they were the only two left (well, more or less not counting the Master). Now, as a cold chill settled between them, the Doctor looked as if he was sure the next week would consist of Romana hold up in her bedroom, and him tinkering in the control room trying to think of ways to apologize.

He shuffled his feet and peered around the room, trying to hastily change the subject. Panicking, his eyes fixed on the burgundy silk ribbon she had used to pull back her golden auburn hair. He uneasily tugged at his bow tie and said in a scratchy voice, "er, um… Nice hair ribbon."

Romana could only shake her head, the Doctor was so utterly _hopeless._ She was still numb from the revelation she had received from him about Gallifrey's fate when they had reunited in E-space after he had landed there by accident (again). But, she knew he too would never recover from their home world's ultimate fate, and watching him fidget nervously, trying to walk on egg shells around her was pathetic, if not disheartening. She couldn't stand watching him be so flighty, it was uncomfortable to say the least, and she couldn't be angry with him forever, it wasn't fair to either of them.

"Well, nice bow tie," she replied.

The Doctor's face brightened instantly. "Pretty cool isn't it?" He asked, straightened the bow tie, dyed a shade of maroon not fair off from her hair ribbon, with pride.

"No." Romana answered, smiling. She would grant him a reprieve from his guilt trip for now, but he still dressed like an idiot.

Their eyes met, her sharp aqua blue locked with his grey earthy green. A challenge had been set.

He leaned towards her, trying to look cool, but still acting as stupid as ever. He beamed at her cheekily, just the way she always had, and always would remember, like the lovable moron he was. "Fine, if you're going to insult me, give me back my screwdriver." He held out his empty hand, his fingers wiggling, beckoning for it.

She grinned, her eyes sly as a fox. "Nope." She bent backward keeping the screwdriver out of his reach. She darted to the left, and the Doctor nearly face planted onto the glass deck. "If you want it, you'll have to come get it!"

And she took off running up the stairs.

She stopped at the top, turning back to watch him trip after her, and laughed manically. "No amount of 'Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey stuff' will help you catch me!" and with that, she bolted down the corridor.

It would take time for the wounds in her hearts to heal, and even then, there would be an empty longing for Gallifrey that would never be filled. But at least she was not alone in her pain, she and the Doctor would know that void together. And, here in the TARDIS, the place that had once been, and now forever would be, her home, here with her best friend, Romana was truly herself. She wouldn't trade in a thousand lifetimes on Gallifrey for a minute of her moments with the Doctor- no matter how insanely daft his vocabulary had become.


End file.
